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How to make florescent ink? Answered

I have Googled and searched Wiki on how to make fluorescent (ultraviolet) inks. I want to know how to make them. I dont want th lemon juice , corn starch, milk or other types of invisible inks. I want to make the stuff the glows under uv light. I searched using uv, ultraviolet, fluorescent inks but couldnt find anything other than the lemon juice and other types of "invisible" writing. Please help if you know where to find or if you know how to make fluorescent (ultraviolet) inks. You can email me at whitethatchpotentloins@yahoo.com
I mean the inks that u can buy for handstampers and that are put in invisible ink markers. I want to make the stuff myself and not have to buy it off the internet.... So while yes there are alot of things that glow under UV, I want it in liquid form.

39 Replies

. How about the stuff that carpenters put on their chalk lines? A lot of them are UV reactive. Should be pretty cheap and readily available. Might have to grind it up a bit to get it fine enough. Just a thought.

. Nacho's Law: Any mention of bodily fluids, especially by name, is strictly prohibited. Exceptions can be made for posts dealing with health sciences, but euphemisms (preferably as vague as possible) must be used.
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Kiteman, I like you. When I take over the world, you shall live. You shall not even be sent to Siberia with the stupid people. In fact, you shall be granted the city-state of your choice, not to exceed 200 square miles.

:-) Hmm, I was just thinking though, some of the words we use ( like "bled" or "bleed" ) don't always have to do with bodily fluids :-) Bleeding off pressure from a compressor tank...bleeding the master cylinder of a auto's brake system, etc.

Another homemade ink (an approximate recipe):
Dissolve 200mG or greater quinine sulfate tablets (an anti-malarial agent available at many online drugstores) in water. Crush with six tablets per 50mL (around 2 ounces) water to start. Add a few drops of sulfuric acid (you can take a few out of a cell in a fully functional lead-acid car battery with an eyedropper if you do not have sulfuric available), test with your UV source as you add to see when additional acid does not intensify further. The ink dries to an invisible-in-sunlight state which shows up blue under UV.

. I doubt if you will be able to make your own ink if it's for an ink-jet printer. Making your own ink for a fountain/calligraphy/quill-type pen is pretty easy.. You need a vehicle that flows well and evaporates quickly. It must also be able to dissolve/suspend the pigment and not react with it. Pure alcohol (ethyl or isopropyl) works reasonably well in some cases.. If your pigment doesn't stick well, you may need a binder (glue).. Google ink formulation

Laundry detergent usually contains UV-active "brighteners." Lots of things glow; your "real" problem may be making sure it's invisible under normal lighting, and doesn't show up when subjected to other "invisible ink" mechanisms (lots of things will cause "inked" paper to turn brown when heated...)